Here is the stunning before, as taken from the realtor photos that were on the virtual tour when the house was listed last year:

All that wood! That wallpaper! Why would you use two of the most porous materials possible in a BATHROOM? It boggles the mind. The shower curtain is hiding a blue bathtub, by the way, along with sliding glass doors (on a bathtub? Why?), which were the first things we removed when we moved in. Also the floor is blue and white tiles.

Flashback Friday! Here is a quick before/after of the dining room. After picture taken from the comfort of my couch and while teleworking. Sorry for crappy phone pic, it’s hard to compare it to the fancy realtor photos.

What we did:

removed carpet

removed wallpaper under chair rail

painted walls charcoal grey (Valspar Crucible)

painted trim Valspar Ultra White

switched out light fixture

switched out switchplates and outlet covers

added trim to the tiles since there was a difference in height

curtains! I bought the fabric at Ikea and mom helpfully hemmed them

Still to do:

get a sideboard or some sort of cabinet for the wall with the door

eventually upgrade the table

in my wildest dreams, we will remove the popcorn ceiling someday

Eventually we’ll get in some other before/afters of different perspectives of the dining room. I’m hoping this becomes a regular feature! Maybe bimonthly?

So all the blogs on the Internet (all of them!) are very insistent that houses need a “landing strip,” a place to drop mail and keys next to where you house your coats and shoes. I didn’t take a proper “before” photo but this was ours:

Essentially, one of those ubiquitous chalkboards from Ikea covered in art from EDB’s daycare, and an old padded fake-leather storage ottoman covered with EDB’s jackets and shoes. And–there it is–a place for us to hang our keys. A landing strip!

But the blogs taught me that I needed a more functional piece of furniture there, and I have to admit, they were kind of right. Behold:

It looks a lot different today than it did then. Mostly done with the living room, dining room, guest room, and kitchen, next up are the bathrooms. Lots of wallpaper and wood.

Tonight while EDB was in the bath I started peeling. The good news: the paper itself peeled in big strips. But: the backing is holding firm. Peeling now forces me to get a move on, since wallpaper backing is ugly and an insect delicacy. I will probably just keep a spray bottle, vinegar, and a scraper in there to remove the backing a bit at a time. Then I’ll just need a weekend to prime and paint–bright white so as not to clash with the blue tub and tile.

We bathe Emmett twice a week. At that rate the wallpaper should be peeled… by 2017.

Eventually we’ll want to replace all the wood accents in there with chrome, probably. And then way down the line (or once we win the lottery), a new sink/vanity/medicine chest. Baby steps!

We have flowers on the table, and when you ask to smell them you lean in and pretty much blow your nose INTO them.

We’ve been working on counting. You keep skipping two and going straight to three. So we’ve been focused on two. The other night you started counting and went all the way to twelve. Except for two. We were so focused on two we didn’t realize how far you could go! You are always surprising us.

When it’s time for bed and we’re saying good night I say “Sweet Dreams!” and you say “Tweet Dweeb!” and then my heart melts in a puddle. Every night.

You are learning rules and routines. One of our rules is that everyone has to be finished eating before you are excused from the table. So every night when you’re done you gesture to me with an upturned palm and say “Mama, you finished?” then “Dada, you finished?” Then we ask if you’re finished and most of the time you smile slyly and claim “NO!” Because you are silly.

You are learning your colors. Kind of. According to you, everything is blue. So you are right about 1/10 of the time.